Life in Motion is almost done!

Michael has about 20 hours left of his fifty-with-Mom, then Madeleine, my last driver-in-training, will begin. Whew! It’s been a long haul, but each time I’ve renewed these ‘life lessons to teach teens while driving,’ I’m glad I started writing them down. With each driver, I’ve added a few more, and reviewer-pals have made suggestions along the way. [Read more…]

Blogging About My Talks

As a member of the permanent community of a Catholic college campus center, I designed an intensive workshop for college students based on my experience helping with student papers and dissertations. I address the weaknesses I’ve observed, and give a structural model for the design of thesis papers. This workshop is most effective if I […]

I once asked a friend who calls herself a Jewish-Catholic if it had been hard for her to accept Mary’s role in Salvation History. She laughed and said, “Heck no! Every Sabbath was begun by a Jewish mama’s prayers! I’d have been suspicious if Lord Sabbaoth hadn’t come through a woman.” Jewish women welcomed Sabbath […]

This was one long talk! I gave it as three separate one-hour talks for an all-day RCIA retreat, and felt a real excitement about the adventure of growing up ‘unto Christ’ among those new Catholics and their sponsors. What does it mean to ‘grow up unto Christ’, and how do we actually accomplish it? How […]

Here’s a recommendation for a book I read aloud with my kids – Moccasin Trail, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw: A runaway boy attacked by a bear is rescued and raised by Indians, then reconnects as an adult with his now-orphaned sister and brothers. As he helps them realize their parents’ dream of settling in Oregon […]

A mom is the caretaker of a huge, wonderful, potentially beautiful, critically important place! She, herself, this actual, unique person, is the single most important ‘environment’ in the lives of her children. Like Mary, like the Church, she is an atmosphere. She is an atmosphere of affection. This is not just warm, fuzzy feelings, but […]

How do you get from three wishes to magnifying God to lions and seeds and Holy-Holy-Holy to rubber bands, balls and balloons?? Well, I’ll tell you! You ask for this talk. It’s a lot of fun to give, and very hard to sum up in a short precis. I’m giving a picture of the glorious […]

Here is my response to a friend who sent the article, “Making Dogma Out of Unsettled Science,” from Crisis Magazine. Fr. Rutler makes some great points! I don’t think there is any danger of this Pope allowing dogma to change, though, whatever sympathy he seems to show with iffy science and world-worshippers. I think this […]

Charlotte, Wonderful work! – you would not (or perhaps you would) believe how timely this is. We had a three hour brainstorming session this morning in our office regarding how we can foster the development of and demand for the renewal of sacred art within a Catholic context. Very much related to the content you’ve […]